Bedtime Stories...Wrap Party!

Brett finally finished up a movie he had been on for a while now called Bedtime Stories, it is an Adam Sandler movie. At the end of every movie the cast and crew have what is called a wrap party, usually these parties are for the adults only but this one was for the whole family, it was a carnival!! The girls had a blast and loved the fact that everything was free, they did not need money!! They played all the carnival games and with some help won allot of stuff.

Their were also allot of fun rides we were able to go on. Mikayla was not tall enough for most of them but she was able to go on the Caterpillar roller coaster, she hated it and they had to stop it to get her off because she would not stop crying and yelling!! Haley got off too, she did not want to ride it alone! Mommy and Daddy got to go on rides too, which was a treat. Haley said her favorite was the octopus and Mikayla's was the Farris Wheel.

At the end of a very fun day we were ready to get out of the heat and head back when we heard music and a DJ. The girls wanted to know what was going on so we went over to check it out and found everyone dancing, well not everyone just the little ones!! Haley and Mikayla were quick to take their shoes off and join in. Adam Sandler was their with his little girl and wife. Being the geek that I am I got some pics of the girls dancing of course, and if you look closely you will see Adam Sandler taking pics of his own little girl. I was not able to convince Haley to go ask him for a picture, maybe next time!

Brett's High School Reunion

It was Brett's high school reunion this past weekend. His 20 year reunion, yes he got teased allot by me about that! Saturday afternoon was a family picnic at Mission Hills water park, which happens to be right by our home, so that was nice! The girls had a blast playing in the water with all the other kids there. I think they were the youngest ones, but that didn't stop my girls from having fun! Brayden was a "party pooper" and went to sleep, he couldn't handle the heat, I think it was close to 110 that day. Luckily we were in the shade! The girls loaded up on otter pops to keep them hydrated, I think Brett opened a total of 6! Haley and Mikayla both got into the pickles and decided to grab handfuls only to discover they did not like them, Haley ate a couple but Mikayla did not like them at all! In the evening their was a dinner/dance at Green Valley Ranch, that was very nice as well. Brett and I enjoyed a night out by ourselves! It is not too often we get dressed up and go somewhere nice, I enjoyed it. It was fun for Brett to see all his old (no punt intended, ok yes their was) class mates!

HE WALKS, HE FINALLY WALKS!!

Here is the first picture of the first, ok really second steps he took. He surprised us all this morning and decided to start walking at Aunt Tammy's Home. We did not even have the camera ready for the very first steps, we had to scrambled to get the camera! I knew he was close so I made sure when I got there that Tammy had her camera close by but I didn't actually think he would do it!!!

After he realized what he did, that he was actually walking by himself, he wanted to go outside with all the girls. He kept trying to walk over the glass door to get

outside. All the girls were shocked and so excited to see him finally walking. When he was outside he continued trying to walk. He walked so much he need a drink so he walked over to where Cara's drink was and just started drinking. Oh no, watch out girls now he can really get around!!

Our California Visit...At the Pool with the Lloyd Family

Here is another part of our CA trip we went to a really fun pool with Heather, Dennis, Brendan and Madison. Haley loved the water slide, that is where she spent most of the day. Brendan and Haley teamed up to spray the others running through. Mikayla and Madison love the water park, they loved running through the spraying water. And all the kids loved playing in the pool with Dennis! I realized that I never seem to get pictures of me or in this case Heather too. I'm sorry Heather, note to self take pictures of me and my friends because we had a great time too!!

This day at the pool wore Mikayla out!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARA!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARA, WE LOVE YOU! HOPE YOU HAVE A WODERFUL 4TH YEAR FILLED WITH LOVE AND LAUGHTER!

HALEY, MIKAYLA & BRAYDEN

Our California Visit...Brayden's Shopping Cart

Brayden spent most of our California trip at Grandma's. He enjoyed playing with the shopping cart and rarely let it out of his sight! He was getting really good at walking with it. And now I have some exciting news, I think he might be close to walking, finally!!!! Yesterday he started standing by himself for long amounts of time and at one point tried to take a step towards me. Will he be walking by 15 months??? He has 2 more weeks lets see if he makes it!!

Our California Visit...Beach Bunnies

I have been wanting to take the girls someplace that we could just have fun together and build some "happy" memories without all the structure of everyday life and learning. The beach was the perfect place. I had to really try not to be "mom" and just be FUN! I had a couple of slips, like when they kept getting sand on the towels, but I quickly remembered to loosen up and just enjoy the moment.

They both loved being in the water and running from the waves. Haley was really into making the biggest sandcastle and decorating it. She really worked hard on that silly sand castle, of all the things she wants to be when she grows up I don't think an engineer is in her future! Mikayla did not enjoy being in the sand at all, she tried at first to help out with the sand castle but after getting frustrated with the sand going everywhere she gave up. Funny thing is, out of both the girls she hated being in the sand the most, and spent most of her time on the towel; and, she was the one that ended up with sand all over her! After about three hours of hard playing in the sand and the ocean they were both ready to lay out!

After we were done with the messy part of the day (the sand and playing in the ocean)we walked down the pier to have lunch at Ruby's. I love their cheeseburgers, they are the best! Next, we walked to Baskin Robbins for ice cream, you can't go to the beach and not get ice cream! And finally with 30 minutes left on our parking pass the girls did some tumbling tricks on the nice grassy area Huntington Beach has. Exactly 6 hours after we arrived we headed home and I am pleased to say that both girls fell asleep in the car, only to wake up right when we got back to grandma's home! This was a great day, I am so glad we did it and that I was able to relax enough to just enjoy the company of my two beautiful girls, they really are fun to be with!

Our California Visit

Love the string cheese coming out of Haley's mouth!

We are finally back in Nevada after having one fun week in California. Brett had to go up to Napa for work so I planned a vacation for the girls and I in CA, visiting my parents and friends.

Brett had to leave for Napa on Saturday from LA, so as a family, in two separate cars we headed for California on Friday morning. With Brett, our 1st stop in So Cal was, Rainforest Cafe in Ontario Mills, that's the girls favorite place to eat. We had a nice lunch and then decided to do some shopping. Brayden didn't like the shopping idea so he decided to take a nap!! After saying a sad goodbye to daddy we headed on to Grandma and Grandpa's home in Riverside, and daddy headed out to LA to get ready for Napa.

Saturday we decided to walk around and check out the garage sales. After having participated in one recently, the girls wanted to see what it was like to be the customer! So, I gave them each one dollar in coins and told them that they could buy whatever they could afford!! I didn't get a picture of their finds, but they came home with handfuls of stuff.

Haley was in heaven, you could tell she felt so grown up, my little diva! Mikayla on the other hand was ready to go home after the first one, she got tired of walking!

I think they might of got such good deals because of how cute they looked, what do you think!!!

Well, what I am going to do, because we did so many fun things, is post a different activity of ours from CA each day this week. So stay tune...their are many more pictures and funny stories to tell of our wonderful time in California.

Happy Father's Day

We miss you daddy, Happy Father's Day!

I just love this picture. Brett had to work up in Napa for 2 weeks so he is not with us this fathers day and we miss him so much. He is a great dad, the girls love it when daddy is home, he is their prince. They want to spend every minute with him. Brayden loves and misses his dad too, they have a special bond that only a father and son could share. Brayden beams when Brett is in the room and follows him everywhere he goes! Thank you, for being such a great dad!

This is not the best picture that I have of me and my dad but it was the quickest one I could find,and I wanted to get this post done tonight. It really does not matter the picture any way because I have so many memories of my dad that are truly wonderful. This is the first fathers day without him and I miss him more then I can express. He was a great dad and I am thankful for everything he taught me and all the support he gave me. My dad was stubborn, opinionated and liked to debate, I inherited all those traits and no one could get me more frustrated then him. We could discuss or debate, whatever you want to call it, for hours. I can remember hanging up the phone after one of these incidents and just wanting to ring his neck. I would love to have one of those conversations now. He loved to call my sister and I "daughter" or "twit" depending on his mood or our mood! He believed in me, in whatever I was doing. He always said I could do anything I wanted to if I just tried, he did not believe in failure or giving up. I love you dad, thank you for being my dad!

And Happy Father's Day to my wonderful step dad, Steve and my father-in-law, Donnie. I love them both. They are great dads in their own right and I am privilege to have them in my life. Steve has been their for me in times of real hardship and has given me counsel that was both beneficial and heartwarming. I do not know what I would do without him in my life and apart of my family. And Donnie is a great grandfather to my children, they love going to pop pop's house. He has so much love inside him and it shows. He is always willing to help out when we need anything, thank you for being there for us and showing us so much love and kindness.

And no, I did not forget,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Pop Pop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you don't look a day over 30!

Mikayla's Makeover

Haley wants to be a make up artist when she grows up, so she decided to practice on Mikayla. She fixed her hair and did her make up. It's hard to see in the pictures but Mikayla was sparkling from head to toe. Haley put blue sparkles throughout her hair as well, which ended up all gooey when they finally finished! Dress up in our home is a daily occurrence but when mommy gets the make up box out (not that often) it is a favorite. I have to say they are getting better about not making too much of a mess. They were up stairs in the play room and I was down stairs, it was hard to give them their space for too long, so after about 30 minutes with no loud screams or bickering I decided to venture up their to see what kind of mess I was going to have to clean up. To my surprise their was no mess (unless you want to call Mikayla's makeover a mess) to clean up!

Haley, you have talent!!

Mountains in Las Vegas!

There is beauty all around if you just look, even in the desert! Today we took everyone up to Mt. Charleston for a picnic and kite flying. It was a gorgeous day. After the girls got use to the bugs and flies they were able to relax and enjoy themselves. Haley and mommy do not like any kind of insects so we had an especially hard time in the beginning! Haley and Mikayla really got into flying their kites and did a great job of it. The wind would come in spurts so it was hard to judge when to fly the kite, we will have to take the kites to a park around us, there is always wind here. Brayden enjoyed staying on the blanket and drinking up all the drinks, until he tried walking while holding onto the stroller. Once he discovered how much fun that was we could not keep him on the blanket!! Bare feet in the dirt, he kept trekking along and would not slow down for anything or anyone, it was sooo cute to watch. Today was a very good day!